Are you looking for a one-pot, set-it-and-forget-it option for making cannabutter and other oil infusions? This easy, quick, and efficient method using the Instant Pot or pressure cooker will significantly decrease the smell while leaving you with a fully decarbed and infused final product. Learn how to simplify the process with this helpful guide today.
Table of Contents
Features
- The best method to decarb and infuse weed butter oil
- How this significantly decreases the order associated with the process
- Want to make it easy? Skip the process, buy my Bliss cannabutter instead, and have it shipped directly to your door!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
It’s no secret that I love using the crockpot for making cannabutter and other infusions, but it can be a lengthy process.
I’m constantly trying to make life easier for the cannabis enthusiasts inside my Well With Cannabis Community.
So, when I learned you could kill two birds with one stone by using the Instant Pot to decarb and infuse, I created this easy recipe to help you get started.
Not only is this process so simple, but as an added benefit, it also significantly decreases the odor associated with the decarboxylation process.
Just place all ingredients in the Instant Pot, and you can clean the house or make dinner while the cannabis is decarbing.
Then, add your oil of choice, set the slow cooker option, and get back to work or relaxing, without worrying about smelling up the entire house.
Here you will find everything you need to know for how to make your own cannabis infusions the easy way with step-by-step instructions, delicious edible recipes to try, and fully-answered FAQs for best results.
What You’ll Need
Cannabis of Choice
- Dried cannabis buds, trim, sugar leaves or kief: Use your desired amount of cannabis, ranging from 3.5 grams to 1 ounce. Check out the flower-to-oil ratio guide if you need help deciding how much to use. Next, select your preference for THC, CBD, or CBG dominant flowers. You can purchase from my online shop.
Depending on the flower you use, with this method, you can create:
- CBD cannabutter
- Kief cannabutter
- CBD oil
- CBG energy and focus oil
- CBN sleep oil
- AVB (already been vaped) oil
Butter or Oil
- Butter or ghee: Unsalted butter, clarified butter, and ghee all work great in this recipe. However, clarified butter and ghee are preferred by many because it eliminates a final step at the end. Regular butter will cause separation. Not sure how many sticks of butter to use? Start with this flower-to-oil ratio guide to help you predict the dose of your own cannabutter.
- Oil of choice: Coconut oil, olive oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil, MCT oil, hemp seed oil, and more
Depending on the oil you use, with this method, you can create:
Equipment
- Unsalted butter
- Instant Pot
- Trivet – or a canning rack that may fit
- Mason jars – ensure you are using a canning jar for this process
- Straining equipment – coffee filter or cheese cloth
- Silicone butter mold – optional
Note: a complete list of ingredients with amounts and printable instructions is located in the recipe card below.
The Step-by-Step Process
- Step 1 – Place your desired amount of cannabis in a mason jar and add a lid to fingertip tightness (not too tight). You do not need to grind the cannabis; break it into small, popcorn-sized pieces.
- Step 2 – Place the jar on the trivet or in the steamer basket.
- Step 3 – Place the trivet or basket in the Instant Pot.
- Step 4 – Add 4 cups of water to the Instant Pot. The size of your Instant Pot matters here. If you have a larger model, you will need to add more water. Add enough water to cover the outside of the mason jars at least halfway.
- Step 5 – Secure the lid.
- Step 6 – Set the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure for 40 minutes for THC-dominant flower, 60 minutes for CBG-dominant flower, 90 minutes for CBD-dominant flower, and 180 minutes for THC flower you want to degrade into CBN.
- Step 7 – After the desired time in minutes has passed, carefully release the pressure using the quick release function or natural release.
- Step 8 – Remove the jars from the pot with oven mitts or other protection and set them aside to cool. You now have decarboxylated cannabis.
- Step 9: Once cool enough to handle, take off the lid and add your desired amount of butter or oil to the jar.
- Step 10: Add a lid and twist to fingertip tightness (not too tight).
- Step 11: Place the jars back in the trivet or steamer basket and return them to the water bath.
- Step 12: Select Slow Cook – LOW mode and set it for 4 hours.
- Step 13: While the butter is infusing, prepare your straining area. Whether it be a paper filter and funnel, cheesecloth, French press, or a simple coffee filter, you will want to set up a straining station to separate the plant matter.
- Step 14: After 4 hours, remove the jars from the Instant Pot. Once cool enough to handle, strain the butter with your method of choice. You can save the leftover cannabis pulp for use in future recipes.
- Step 15: Add the strained butter or oil to whatever jar you would like to store it in. If making butter, place the container in the refrigerator and allow it to cool completely. You will need to drain off the milk solids at the end of the process.
- Step 16: Enjoy your cannabis-infused butter!
Note: complete step-by-step printable instructions are located in the recipe card below.
Storage Instructions
Store the butter in an airtight container like a sealed mason jar in the refrigerator according to the expiration date on the butter you used.
It can be stored for a long time if you store it in the freezer.
Depending on how it was prepared, infused oil can be stored at room temperature for several months, but it should be kept in a cool, dark place.
If you are storing the butter in the fridge or freezer, never use the microwave to soften or thaw the butter, as it could destroy the cannabinoids and ruin the final product.
Learn how to store edibles here.
Determine The Dose
Want to get a more accurate guesstimate of the potency of your cannabis infusions and extractions? Try my popular edibles dosage calculator. Not sure what your perfect dose is? Learn more here.
Choose The Right Decarb Time
Each cannabinoid decarboxylates at a different temperature, so it’s essential to select the appropriate time based on the flower you have.
Use this guide to select the decarb time that is right for you.
Decarb Times
- THCA โ ฮ9-THC – bake at 240ยฐF/116ยฐC for 40 minutes
- CBDA โ CBD – bake at 240ยฐF/116ยฐC for 90 minutes
- CBGA โ CBG – bake at 220ยฐF/105ยฐC for 60 minutes
- ฮ9-THC โ CBN – bake at 240ยฐF/116ยฐC for 180 minutes
Notes and Expert Tips
- When making your own batch of Instant Pot Cannabutter, know that you will end up with less butter than you started with. This is normal because you will remove the milk solids and evaporate the excess water during the process.
- While the most common method is to use unsalted butter, using clarified butter or ghee eliminates the need to clarify your butter and strain milk solids.
- If you are doing an oil infusion, you can optionally add in lecithin. Do NOT add this if infusing butter.
- Know that using different strains can result in different experiences from each batch of cannabis infused-butter.
- One of the best ways to make a more potent cannabutter or oil by adding decarbed kief or cannabis concentrates like distillate or FECO.
- Just want to decarb but NOT infuse? Check out this simple guide for how to decarboxylate cannabis in an Instant Pot.
- One of the most beautiful things about this recipe is saving the leftover plant matter to make other cannabis edibles. One of the easiest ways is to throw it in your favorite sauce or salad dressings.
- If you use butter molds, I recommend using a spoon to get the pure, infused melted butter into the first full stick of the mold. You will only need to remove the milk solids from one stick.
- Ready to bake your favorite weed brownies and cookies? Have no fear; it is OK to bake your homemade cannabutter at higher temperatures.
- Looking for more recipes? Check out this cannabutter board, these 25 cannabutter recipes, or these tasty no-bake cannabutter recipes.
Instant Pot Cannabutter or Oil Infusions
Ingredients
- ยฝ ounces dried cannabis flower, buds, trim, or kief
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
Instructions
- Place your desired amount of cannabis in a mason jar and add a lid to fingertip tightness (not too tight). You do not need to grind the cannabis, just break it up into small, popcorn-sized pieces.
- Place the jar on the trivet or in the steamer basket and place the trivet or basket in the Instant Pot.
- Add 4 cups of water to the Instant Pot.ย If you have a larger IP, you may need to add more water. Add enough water to cover the outside of theย mason jars at leastย halfway.ย
- After your selected time, carefully release the pressure. Remove the jars from the pot and set them aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, add your desired amount of butter or oil to the jar.
- Add a lid and twist to fingertip tightness (not too tight). Place the jars back in the trivet or steamer basket and return them to the water bath. Select Slow Cook mode on LOW and set it for 4 hours.
- While the butter is infusing, prepare your straining area. Whether it be aย paper filterย andย funnel,ย cheesecloth,ย French press, or a simpleย coffee filter, you will want to set up a straining station to separate the plant matter from the butter or oil.
- After 4 hours, remove the jars from the Instant Pot. Once cool enough to handle, strain the butter with your method of choice. You can save theย leftover cannabis pulpย for use in future recipes.
- Add the strained butter or oil to whatever jar you would like to store it in. If making infused oil, the process is over.
- If making butter, you will need to drain off the milk solids at the end of the process.ย Place the container in the refrigerator and allow it to cool completely. During refrigeration, the infused butter will harden and solidify. Remove the solid block of butter and drain the remaining liquid which is the unwanted, leftover water and milk solids.
- Store this in the refrigerator according to the expiration date on the butter you used, or store for even longer in the freezer.
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
No worries, there’s nothing wrong with the old-fashioned way! A great alternative could include aย crock pot, aย stove top, or anย infusion machine.
Yes, a true cannabis lover knows that if you want the activated benefits of cannabinoids like THC or CBD, you need to decarb first. This is because raw cannabis or fresh, raw weed contains cannabinoid acids like THCA or CBDA. The process ensures your end result, decarbed weed, contains the “good stuff” or THC and CBD you want. If you accidentally forget to decarb before adding in your cup of butter or oil, don’t worry, you didn’t just ruin those precious marijuana flower buds. Instead, you will just need a longer cooking time of 6-8 hours.
It depends on how potent you want your end product to be and how much cannabutter you want to add to a specific recipe. For a less potent product, add more butter. For a more potent product, add less. Remember, how much weed you use will have a big impact, too. Follow myย cannabis flower-to-oil ratio chartย to make a batch size perfect for you. If you’re usingย trimย orย kief, adjust accordingly. If you want a very potent product, makeย kief butterย instead.
Using up your cannabutter is certainly the most exciting part of this recipe! From sweet to savory,ย check them out hereย or simply swap your cannabutter for regular butter in your favorite recipes.ย
No worries, if you’re unhappy with how your cannabutter turned out the first time, you can follow my guide to fix weak cannabutter. Keep in mind the color does not indicate potency.
Check out my beginner’s blog posts and join the Well With Cannabis Community. for additional support and resources.
Take your edibles to the next level…
My Edibles Made Easy Online Cooking Course will teach you how to easily make cannabis edibles and topical recipes at home. This step-by-step video course will teach you how to infuse, extract, and create edibles with many different product types – all from the comfort of your own home.
Recipes to Use Up Your Cannabutter
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Hey random question, what if I set the jar outside to Decarb? Would that work? Would it infuse in oil or is this not possible?
Hi Joe. Thanks for reaching out with your random question about decarbing. We’re here to help!
While it might sound tempting to place the jar outside for decarbing, it’s important to note that outdoor conditions most likely don’t provide the consistent and controlled heat required for effective decarboxylation. Outdoor temperatures can fluctuate, which could lead to uneven heating and insufficient decarbing.
When it comes to infusing oil, once you’ve properly decarbed your cannabis, you can add it to a jar of oil and let it infuse. There are various techniques that use the mason jar method for infusing oils with cannabis and some people opt for cold-infusion methods, which involve steeping cannabis in oil over an extended period without heat. The cold-infusion method may be considered with infusing outdoors. This is not a process we are familiar with, but if you experiment with it, we would love to know how it goes for you!
I hope this helps clarify your question! If you have any more inquiries or need further assistance, feel free to ask. Happy experimenting!
The first part of the process cecarbs the cannabis. The second part, after adding butter or oil can be achieved in just 20 minutes rather than four hours by continuing to use the cooker on high. A conventional stove top pressure cooker can also be used in the same way. If you are going for maximum potency, adding already infused oil to a second lot of decarbed bud will bring your product to next level.
I use this method with virgin olive oil. The oil can be used in cooking as a replacement for butter or taken using a teaspoon. My preference, however, is using an eye dropper to fill 000 size capsules. This size capsule will hold approximately one millilitre, given the you cannot fill the rounded top of the capsule. With double infused olive oil, I find this to be a nice dose.
When next I follow this receipt, I intend to add a teaspoon of liquid lecithin to see if this has any effect on potency.
Hi Joe. Thank you for feedback. Our readers appreciate when others share their processes! We appreciate it too. Happy infusing!
My pressure cooker has a low pressure mode. Is this the same as the low/slow on the instant pot. I just decarbed on high pressure and added my butter. Not sure what setting on my Cuisinart. Thanks โค๏ธ
Hi Holly! Just wanted to clarify that “Low Pressure” on the Instant Pot is not the same as “Low/Slow”. The “Low/Slow” setting on the Instant Pot is specifically designed for slow cooking, similar to a CrockPot. Hope that clears things up!
Hi Emily,
Love your site. Today I made oil with 28 grams of flower and sugar leaves and one cup of coconut oil. I lost about 1/4 cup of oil due to the flower absorption. Any suggestions for getting the oil out of the flowers? Thank you.
Frank
Hi Frank. To extract the remaining oil from the flower, you can try using a cheesecloth, a fine mesh strainer, or a french press to separate the oil from the plant material. Place the flowers in the cloth or strainer and press down firmly to extract as much oil as possible. Alternatively, you could also consider using a Magical Filter Press which makes the process extremely simple! I hope this helps! Happy infusing!